Quinn daughter has Dubai accounts

A daughter of bankrupt businessman Sean Quinn has told the Commercial Court she opened four savings accounts in Dubai after legal proceedings were taken to prevent stripping of assets in the Quinn family international property group (IPG).

Aoife Quinn said she opened the accounts in either late 2011 or early 2012, after proceedings were initiated in mid-2011 by Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, alleging steps were being taken to put IPG assets out of its reach.

Ms Quinn said she has no documents related to those savings accounts as she had provided the relevant bank statements to her previous lawyers, Eversheds, on foot of court orders requiring disclosure of her accounts and assets. That firm was exercising a claim or lien over those and other documents, she said. She also said she has no documents about accounts held by her with Ocean Bank in Moscow but had disclosed text messages received by her from that bank concerning the accounts.

Ms Quinn said she has disclosed all documents in her possession and had also disclosed any other documents received by her from other parties as part of efforts to help her brother purge his contempt of court orders restraining asset-stripping.

She believed some 26,000 documents were obtained for review by Eversheds.

She accepted she had sworn an affidavit stating she understood that court orders required her to disclose documents in her possession and also within her power of procurement.

Aoife Quinn is the first of seven members of the extended Quinn family to be cross-examined by lawyers for IBRC with a view to establishing if they have provided full details of their assets and bank accounts.

All five adult children of Mr Quinn - Aoife, Brenda, Ciara, Colette, and Sean Junior - are to be cross-examined over today and tomorrow as are Karen Woods, wife of Sean Jnr and Niall McPartland, husband of Ciara.

The Quinns had opposed cross-examination but the Supreme Court refused to grant a stay on it pending the hearing of the Quinns' Supreme Court appeal against the order of Mr Justice Kelly directing their cross-examination. A date for that appeal has yet to be fixed.

IBRC sought the cross-examination after saying it did not believe the Quinns had made full disclosure. They insist they have complied with disclosure orders and also deny the bank's claims they are involved in controlling companies in the family's international property group. (IPG)

The cross-examination arises on foot of orders granted last July freezing accounts of the Quinn family members below €50m.

In an affidavit previously, Richard Woodhouse of IBRC said certain areas of alleged non-disclosure or inadequate disclosure were the focus of the bank's application. Those matters included documents relating to control of companies in the IPG, assets, bank accounts and documents relating to salaries from Russian IPG companies in 2011 and 2012.